


From darkness into your arms

by Kaogasm



Category: Loki - Fandom, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Comfort/Angst, Darcy Lewis Feels, Darcy Lewis's Taser, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, I don't know what I'm doing, Jane Foster & Darcy Lewis Friendship, Light Angst, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki (Marvel) Has Issues, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Protective Loki (Marvel), What Have I Done, What Was I Thinking?, tasertricks - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2021-01-27
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27198746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaogasm/pseuds/Kaogasm
Summary: A prequel to "If you love, let me go", exploring how Loki and Darcy met and how their relationship developed.Tags would be updated when needed.
Relationships: Darcy Lewis & Loki, Darcy Lewis/Loki
Comments: 50
Kudos: 50





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [If you love, let me go](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26902561) by [Kaogasm](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaogasm/pseuds/Kaogasm). 



> Sooo one of you asked me if I would be writing a prequel to "If you love, let me go" and while I initially said I _might_ do it in the future if school doesn't get in the way, I ended up doing it now. 
> 
> This probably won't have frequent updates like my other two stories (for the time being, since I'm still working the kinks on this one, plus I have work and school to deal with) but I wanted to publish the first chapter already, just so I could motivate myself to work on it further in the future.
> 
> I'm hoping the intro is adequate. Remember that this is an Alternate Universe, even if the story eventually comes to be aligned with the main MCU timeline, it is still alternate universe. Keeping strictly to canon has never been my forte, even with the whole internet at your fingertips with all the information you need.
> 
> P.S.: English is not my native language and I don't have a beta. So, excuse the mistakes if you see any!
> 
> Anyway, I am babbling. I hope you enjoy!

He had been traveling for a few years. Jumping from timeline to timeline, from planet to planet, to different realms and back. In all the timelines he’d been to, he had always avoided going back to Asgard. He knew he wasn’t welcome there and if he would ever set foot on the soils of the Realm Eternal, he would be captured and incarcerated. Loki wanted to avoid that.

His travels had started after he managed to escape the Avengers. He had lost his attempt to subjugate their pesky realm, but a golden opportunity had presented itself before him when Tony Stark went into some sort of a cardiac arrest. In the chaos that ensued, the Tesseract had come sliding to his feet, as if telling him to pick it up and hold it in his Godly hands forever.

And pick it up he did, despite the agonizing pain bending down had caused him. If he ever met the Hulk again, he’d let him know just what this _puny God_ was capable of when he was in possession of his full mental and physical capacities.

At first he had spent some time on Midgard, skilfully concealing himself from all others and minding his own business, while trying to recover from everything he had been through after falling through the void. Years of torture and mind control had left his mind and body full of scars. While most physical ones had healed well, there were some pesky ones he needed to magically conceal. His mental scars, though, these required time.

And time was the only thing he had.

He had first settled in a small town just on the outskirts of New York. While the Tesseract could transport him further, he was in no shape to do that at the time. He would conjure Midgardian money to pay for a place he had rented. He had stayed within the confines of his little apartment until he was well enough to venture outside. The owners were a young couple who had taken it over themselves to do his grocery. Well, not without being generously compensated, of course. They were more than happy to do it. All he needed to do was give them a list once a week, and they would do it for him. 

He was glad he had learned the art of casting a glamour. Without it, those Midgardians would have instantly recognized him and he wouldn’t have liked that.

The moment he had settled in his new place, he had received a visit from his mother. Granted, she wasn’t there in person, but rather a hologram in a mirror. Loki was shocked at first, but seeing his mother after such a long time was like a tender balm on a nasty burn.

They spoke for a long while. They cried, they laughed. Frigga was happy that her youngest son was alive. She had shown concern over his ill appearance and offered remedies to be sent with Heimdall. Loki wanted to refuse, but Frigga would have none of it. She and Heimdall were the only ones to know where Loki was and they weren’t planning on informing anyone else. Loki could conceal himself against others and Heimdall would help conceal him against Odin, even though that was high treason.

So he spent his days on Midgard, concealed from everyone other than his mother and his old friend. Recovering and learning. He enjoyed learning, ever since he was a child. He was wary of the Midgardians around him, though he found their history and culture to be interesting enough to catch his attention.

His recovery hadn’t gone without a hitch. For months he kept having nightmares and flashbacks. The Other, Thanos, Thanos’ children, the Chitauri. Every form of torture he had to endure had come to plague him every night. The failed invasion, how he was beaten like a ragdoll by the green monster. Sometimes he would manage to instantly wake up, but some other times it had proven to be more difficult. He would thrash in his sleep until he would rip the bedsheets or until he would break the bed. 

On those occasions he would fix everything back to their original state once he was awake and fit enough to be bothered with it. Sometimes he left the broken bed the way it was for weeks before he would go and repair it using magic. His mother kept offering him advice and remedies for the mind, but he seldom made use of it. He needed to power through, just like his idiot of a brother used to do. 

Despite what he had to endure in the past because of Thor, deep down Loki still loved his brother. Though he wouldn’t admit it to himself, nor to anyone else. After the happenings on Jotunheim Loki had lost all the trust he had for his older brother. Well, okay, not _all_ of it. Thor’s heart was at the right place. His brain, however, definitely needed some modification.

But Thor had no part of his life anymore. So Loki was not going to concern himself with what he could do to fix that brain.

After a year in the small town, Loki had started traveling Midgard. The Allspeak had assisted him to communicate with the locals in every country he had visited. He came to discover that he preferred the country side to the cities. Preferred Europe to Asia, the North Pole to Antarctica. Though the Antarctic was appealing for the lack of pesky Midgardians – save for nosy scientists - but the solitude had gotten too boring too fast. There was only so much he could do with the penguins and seals. Peculiar creatures, they were. But not good company when one specie would try to attack him, while the other would run away from him.

He was fascinated by the African Sahara. A vast contrast to the Antarctic. While the northern parts were interesting, he absolutely enjoyed his time in the sub-Saharan Africa. The warmth wasn’t favourable, but the animals were _majestic_ , to say the least. He had somehow managed to befriend a pride of lions. Maybe the fact that he had assisted a hunt out of boredom had contributed to it, or maybe he used a bit of magic to subdue the creatures, nonetheless, Loki had found their company to be quite pleasant. The lion cubs were his favorite. He would play with them, let them chase and wrestle him, like he was one of their own. All done under the watchful eyes of the lionesses.

He never stayed the night with the pride. He would travel to the nearest village and request shelter. It was remarkable how different Midgardians were on every part he had travelled to. Some were welcoming, some not. He never forced his way into a shelter or an apartment. After all, he wasn’t Thor. He had more class than that. He would instead disguise himself as one of the locals whenever needed and that would grant him easier access to whatever he needed in terms of food and shelter.

At some point he had returned back to the little town outside of New York and he was pleased to be able to rent the same apartment he had lived in before. He hadn’t been there for a few years, and he was pleased to see how the owners had renovated the place. It was a very welcome change from the desert, that was definite. Loki had enjoyed his time in the sub-Saharan desert, but it was time for him to settle. At least, that’s how he felt and the Saharan heat was not something his body was getting accustomed to. The weather in the little town was pleasant. Cold in winter and pleasantly warm in summer. He could not complain.

Throughout his travels he had always kept in contact with his mother. Whenever he had no reflective mirror or a reflective surface at hand, or no means to conjure them, Heimdall would contact him through the eyes of a bystander and relay his mother’s message. But now that he was back, he could talk to her himself.

When Frigga’s face appeared on the mirror, Loki’s heart clenched. She didn’t look well, though she tried to play down the fact that she was ill. Loki wanted so desperately go see her in person. He could do it with the Tesseract in his possession and Frigga knew that he could. But the moment the Tesseract would enter Asgard’s realm, Odin would be able to sense it and she did not want to jeopardize her son’s safety and wellbeing.

That was the most difficult period in Loki’s life. Even more difficult than being tortured by Thanos and his minions. His mother had fallen ill and he couldn’t do anything about it.

It all came crashing down when one day Heimdall contacted him to deliver the news of his mother’s passing. Loki was devastated, to say the least. The only person he had ever cared for was gone and he couldn’t even be there to say his final goodbye.

If Loki had any hope to ever see his mother, it was all lost, along with whatever of the sanity he had manage to regain through the years, the moment he heard the news from Heimdall.

He had nothing and no one to live for anymore. His world had darkened once more and this time he could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. He couldn’t contain his rage and he took it out on the apartment he was residing in. He spent weeks crying in agony for his loss. Breaking items could not satisfy his need for violence. He could not contain his feelings. He needed to _feel_ something to quench the thirst for destruction that overwhelmed him.

When he had no more tears to shed, he summoned the Tesseract once more. Despite the darkness he had felt within, he repaired the apartment. The owners did not deserve having their property damaged. They were good people. When he had told Frigga about them, she had sent them a present as a thank you for taking care of her son. It was a small protective statue in the shape of a serpent wrapped around a rose. Frigga had explained it resembled herself and Loki. It would protect their home from all kinds of evil and would grant them prosperity. They were delighted when Loki had presented it to them, though he did not explain the meaning it had. He had simply told them it was a thank you present from his mother who lived abroad. And now that he was determined to leave, he was going to clean up.

With a wave of his hand, the apartment was clean and organized again. He gathered the bare necessities he would be taking with him, wrote a note for the owners and conjured a big amount of money in an envelope. He put the note and the keys inside, sealed it and transported himself to their doorstep. He put the envelope into their mailbox and disappeared.

Loki had started travelling further than Midgard. He aimed for the universe beyond the Nine Realms. He went from planet to planet, joining raging battles wherever he could find one. When he couldn’t, he would start one himself. He would kill without a second thought. He would rip his way through the fabric of time and space, travel to the past or the future, cause chaos and mayhem. He changed the history and future of more planets and species than he could care for. 

And he regretted none of it.

But it was never enough. He could not let go of the rage he felt within. The loss was too deep, way too deep.

He had lost count on how long he had been gone. With going back and forth through time, it was never important to know. He would have probably been able to keep track had he used the Time Stone, but he had learned a neat time travel spell from an old Vanir Shaman who had taught him most of the spells he had known. It was an intricate spell. It needed specific ingredients that he kept in a pocket dimension, for they were difficult to come by. If done wrong it could cost one’s life. Many times Loki was tempted to just “accidentally” make a mistake in the spellcasting, but he failed to do so. His mother’s image very bright in his mind, telling him to take care of himself. Well, he wasn’t doing a mighty job of that now, was he? Recklessly joining battles or fights, risking injuries and his life in the process. But he stayed alive every time, much to his dismay. Death in battle would be accidental, so he wouldn’t be held accountable for it. He was sure his mother would descend from Valhalla just to scold him about it before she would take him back up with her. But dying because a mistake in a time travel spell-casting that he had done on purpose? That would deprive him from the possibility to ever be able to see his mother again, for he would not be granted entrance into Valhalla.

After a while Loki had gotten bored of it all. His rage was still a roaring flame inside his chest, but he was just _bored_. He wasn’t gaining anything and it ceased to even be _interesting_! There was only so many times one could join a massacre before it would become repetitive.

So he decided to travel once more. He gathered the last of the needed ingredients for his next travel and cast the spell. He didn’t care where or when he was going to. He wouldn’t be able to do it again, unless he came across the items he would be using now for the last time. He will think about it should he ever have need for it. He finalized his preparations and held the Tesseract in both hands. Then he cast the spell.

The whirlwind of time and space took him far. He could see the timelines of different worlds and species play around him in fragments of what resembled little screens. He closed his eyes and let the waves of the travel path take him away until he finally reached his mysterious destination.

The cloud of blue and grey dissipated around him and Loki found himself standing in a green field. He hid the Tesseract in a pocket dimension and looked around. The sun was setting over the horizon and he could see buildings in the far distance. The skyline somehow looked familiar. Around him he saw some of the locals going on with their business. 

He was back on Midgard.

He was back in New York.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess what story decided it wanted to be updated? Yep, this one.  
> We're still in the intro phase.. but we do get a tiny glimpse at Darcy this time. And when I say tiny, I mean tiny lol
> 
> Thanks for the comments on the previous chapter! 
> 
> And I bet most (if not all) of us are pretty hyped about the trailer. I just can't stop watching it! May 2021 feels so far away even though it's less than 6 months!
> 
> Anyway, on with this story! Enjoy!

Not much had changed as Loki walked through the city of New York. After finding his way out of the green field he had appeared on, he cast a glamour spell over himself like he had done many times in the past and started exploring. The melting snow on the field made him think it must have been the end of February, according to the Midgardian calendar. People were wrapped in coats and scarves and while Loki wasn’t bothered by the cold, he conjured a coat just to blend in with the crowd. His first stop was a newspaper stand. He wanted to know just which year did he land himself in. Picking up the day’s newspaper, he scanned the front page and his eyes landed on the date. It was 2014. The old shopkeeper looked at him expectantly and Loki put his hand into his pocket, discretely conjuring Midgardian currency and paid the man. He thanked him, took the newspaper and walked away.

As fate would have it, he was sent to a time two years after his attempted invasion to the realm. He looked at the buildings surrounding him, they didn’t look familiar, though they weren’t unfamiliar either. He turned to look at the direction he came from, the green field he had appeared in turned out to be the one they called Central Park. Upon further inspection, Loki found out he was in the area they called Manhattan, the very neighbourhood he had fought the Avengers.

“Peculiar.” He mumbled to himself as he started walking again. He didn’t recognize the streets, since he hadn’t spent much time in the city itself while he was residing on the outskirts of it during his recovery. Even during his second visit he didn’t go into the city. This time his location was picked by the spell he had cast and he wondered what influenced it. Why Midgard? Why this specific time?

He decided not to dwell on it and just move on. If anything, from what he’s seen of Midgard in the past, this small realm had some interesting aspects to it. Sure, the history was sketchy at best. But for a realm that did not rely on magic or advanced technology, they were doing pretty well. Developing at a much slower speed than other realms and planets he’d been to, but they were doing it all by themselves. Even he had to admit it was somewhat impressive for such a petty race as the Midgardians.

He contemplated to go back to the apartment he had rented the first two times. If his memory served him right and his calculations were correct, it would be a month since he had left the place for the second time. He tried to remember what he had written in the note he had left the landlords at the time, but he couldn’t recall whether he had bid them farewell or had he mentioned returning the future. Well, it didn’t matter. Since that was the only place he knew was safe enough for him, he decided to check it out later. He knew this was a different timeline from the one he had been in before. Though the exhaustion from the travel was weighing on him, so he couldn’t be bothered with figuring out the timelines and their differences. Either way, he decided to get some sustenance first before he would let himself think about the complexities of time and space.

He stopped at a fast food joint. He wrinkled his nose at the atrocious smell that assaulted his nostrils when the doors opened. He turned around and left. There was no way in Hel he would subjugate his stomach to such thing as fast food.

Upon further inspection, he ended up on a street that seemed more upscale than the one he had just been at. Everything looked more glamourous and expensive. Loki smirked as he concluded this was more to his taste. He looked around to see if someone was paying him any attention. Seeing that people were either busy rushing somewhere or had their noses onto the small devices in their hands, he let his magic change his outfit to one that corresponded to the upscale level of the neighbourhood he was in.

Not long after, he found a fine dining establishment that he deemed fit for a king and walked in.

The restaurant was full. Loki looked around at the busy tables. An old couple eating side by side, a glass of wine each, studiously bent over their meals. A group of men clad in elegant suits discussing what seemed to be a business deal. At the reception desk Loki was greeted with utmost respect and formality. He was politely informed that he had to have a reservation if he wished to dine there. Reservations needed to be booked months in advance. So this wasn’t the kind of place where you get seated on impulse. Loki smirked at the host and tapped the reservation book with two, elegant fingers.

“If you could check once more. I do recall making the reservation a while ago. The name is Treacher.” He had no idea why he came up with that name, but it was less suspicious than Odinson, especially in this city. He couldn’t risk anyone knowing who he was by the name, even if he was concealing his looks.

He could see the host resisting the urge to roll his eyes, but he checked the reservation list nonetheless. Loki’s smile grew wider when the host’s eyes turned into wide orbs and he gulped nervously.

“My sincerest apologies, Sir. It seems that I have overlooked your name by accident. Please, let me escort you to your table.” The young man said hurriedly and motioned for Loki to walk in.

Licking his lips, Loki chuckled as he walked further into the restaurant. After being seated at his table, the host apologized again and offered him a glass of wine of his choice, on the house, as a form of apology.

Loki thanked the host and asked his recommendation on which wine to choose. After making a decision and while the host went off to take care of the wine, Loki picked up the menu. His glass of wine arrived by the time he had finished deciding on the three course meal he was going to have. After giving his order, he took a sip of the red drink and nodded his appreciation with a raised glass at the host, who was smiling in relief at him from his spot at the reception desk near the entrance.

After enjoying his meal and another glass of wine, Loki paid and left the restaurant. He walked the streets of New York, passively looking around and trying to figure out where to settle for the night. The busy evening streets spread before him and people went past him with no care in the world for the stranger in a dark suit.

His steps led him to the front of what seemed to be a hotel. The golden frames around the doors looked inviting. He was greeted by an elderly man dressed in a red uniform. Loki asked whether there was a possibility for him to rent a room on a short notice and the man directed him towards the reception. He thanked the man, slipping him a tip when he shook his hand. Loki walked in and headed towards the reception desk.

A few minutes later he was entering a room that turned out to be larger than he had expected. In fact, it did not look like a hotel room at all. It was more like a guest suit of a palace. Well, a smaller palace, maybe. Definitely not the Asgardian one. The rooms at his former home were much larger than this. Though he had stayed at a variety of places on Midgard, none of them compared to this one. The bed was king sized with pure white cotton sheets. There was a desk with ornate legs on one side of the room and a chair matching in design. On another side there was a big TV screen attached to the wall. He looked around and saw a leather couch and a couple of armchairs at a corner. In front of them a coffee table with the same ornate legs as the desk. On the other side of the room were the floor-to-ceiling windows and a private terrace. Loki nodded his approval to the obvious upgrade from the places he had been staying at for the past... or future years he’d been in.

While he could clean himself using magic, it never felt the same as a nice, hot bath. So he took off his clothes, dropping them to the floor as he made his way to the bathroom. He let out a soft hum as he marvelled the interior. A shower cabin and a bathtub on one side. On the other side, a luxurious vanity with a marble sink shaped like a bowl. In fact, everything in the bathroom seemed to be made of marble, aside from some of the contraptions that looked metal. He did pay a large sum for the night, he was glad to not be disappointed.

And since the money was conjured and not earned, Loki decided he could stay here more than just a night, until he could figure out what to do next. Due to the lack of ingredients for his time travel spell, he was bound to this timeline, whichever it was in the vast web of the multiverse. He simply hoped it was one where he was not known in. He didn’t really like going around on a daily basis with a glamour up. He’ll try and see whether he could get away with walking around without it.

After his bath, he dressed in comfortable clothes. Ones he had come to know during his past stay on Midgard. He made his suit disappear off the floor as he crawled onto the bed, sighing in relief as the soft mattress welcomed his exhausted body. He didn’t even bother getting under the covers, for before he could even consider doing that, Loki was fast asleep.

-*-*-*-*-*-

To say that Darcy loved her job would have been a lie. But if you said she was _enjoying_ it, now that would have been the understatement of the year. She was never a fan of legal procedures, but she enjoyed digging through files and reading the backstory of a case. Mainly because of the fact that the clients at Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzman and Holliway were... _special_. They consisted mainly of superheroes and superhumans. There were also the occasional villains, but Mr. Holliway made sure there wouldn’t be any conflict of interest when the company would decide to represent those.

Darcy liked working on those cases the most. She was functioning there as a trainee-paralegal. After being an intern for Jane Foster, she had decided to finally put her degree in political science into good use. It felt like an upgrade from being an intern to an astrophysicist. Nothing wrong about astrophysics, but she had only taken the internship for easy school credits, even though it had ended up being everything _but_ easy. 

Darcy figured she had seen it all. Space vikings, a giant fire breathing alien robot, aliens that looked like starved zombie orcs and elves that reminded her of Uruk-hai. So when she had found the traineeship announcement at the law firm, which specialised in superhuman law, she had immediately jumped at the opportunity and sent in her resume and cover letter. She had made sure to include a reference from Jane Foster, who was known among the ranks of the superhero/superhumans to be Thor’s ex. Darcy didn’t see anything wrong about using that little detail to her advantage in her application, even if an internship in astrophysics were completely irrelevant for the position she was applying for. Hell, even her degree had little chance of getting her the position, especially when there were hoards of law students desperately wanting to get a foot in at any law firm straight after graduation. To her delight, the firm had invited her for an interview within a day after she had sent her application. 

She had been employed for almost a year now and she couldn’t be happier. Despite it being a 2-year traineeship, with the possibility of formally being hired as a paralegal at the end of it, she was actually getting paid! She could finally afford a nice apartment of her own, she could go shopping whenever she felt like it. She could even afford her own car! No more borrowing Jane’s rental cars whenever she needed to run some errands and _definitely_ no more public transport unless strictly necessary! The amount of times she would get groped on the bus or the subway was getting out of hand and she was growing tired of having to pepper spray or tase people. It was only a matter of time until she would get arrested for that. Not that it would stick, since it was always and only in self defence, but still! Darcy disliked the notion of getting into problems with the law enforcement, no matter on which side she was standing. Dealing with SHIELD that one time in New Mexico still haunted her to this day. Nasty people. Do not recommend.

She still kept in touch with Jane and even with Erik. Both scientists were working in different cities, each doing a research of their own. But the three of them had weekly video chat sessions. Mainly on Saturday evenings, because none of them had a life. It also happened to be the only time Jane could make up some free time for them at the moment.

One Sunday morning she decided to grab herself some coffee from that one vendor at Central Park. It was close to work, which was kind of stupid. She could have just waited until the next day and get the coffee then, either during her break or maybe just before work. But nope, she wanted that specific coffee on this particular Sunday morning.

The cool February breeze was a bit chilly. She wrapped her scarf around her neck and put her winter hat and gloves on, pulled the zipper of her jacket all the way up and left her apartment. The drive to Central Park wasn’t that long and on a Sunday morning the traffic was bearable. Once she parked the car, she grabbed her bag and headed into the park and straight to the coffee vendor.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Loki woke up at the first rays of dawn feeling rested, like he had been sleeping an eternity. He hadn’t checked the time when he had gone to bed, so it made no sense to try and figure out how long did he sleep. Either way, his body was telling him it was rested and he needed to go to the bathroom.

After a shower and getting dressed in yet another fine attire he had conjured, consisting of a button up shirt and dark jeans, paired with boots and a thigh-length black coat, he conjured a wallet and filled it with some Midgardian currency. Tucking the wallet into the inner chest pocket of his coat, he grabbed the key card of the room and decided to go to wherever they would be serving breakfast. The receptionist had informed him that breakfast was included in the rate and there was a specific time slot for it. He craved a nice, warm cup of coffee and he was certain the hotel’s restaurant would be serving some.

Just before he could leave the room, a familiar sound coming from outside caught his ears and he froze. With a sharp movement he turned around and saw Heimdall standing outside the glass doors that lead to the terrace.

“Fuck.” Loki mumbled and walked over to let the guardian in. There was no use of concealing himself now. He wouldn’t be able to hide from his old friend. It seemed that his protection spell did not function properly. He will need to check on that and strengthen it later. Another thing he wondered was whether this version of Heimdall knew of him or not.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Heimdall said when Loki opened the door and let him in.

“I might as well have.” Loki said, sounding displeased by the sudden visit. His facial expression matching his tone.

“Good, then. Means your other self is still pretending to be your father.”

So this Heimdall knew who he was. Or at least, he knew that he was not the Loki who was pretending to be his father.

Wait, what?

“Why would I pretend to be my f... Odin?” He raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

“Long story short, you banished him and are trying to banish me as well.”

“That does sound like me.” Loki grinned.

Heimdall smiled. “It is good to see you, Loki.”

“Good to see you as well, my friend.”

They hugged. Loki wrapped his arms around his old friend and patted his back. He had really missed Heimdall and his wisdom. It was nice to know that he would have at least one person he could count on in this new timeline he had landed in. No matter where or when he would have landed, Heimdall was one of the very few people Loki could always count on being there for him, no matter how Loki would treat him.

Heimdall smiled as they broke the hug. “Your late mother had mentioned your return. She requested that I watch out for you. This version of you.”

“Late... so she’s gone in this timeline as well.” Loki sighed, casting his gaze down.

“Unfortunately, yes.”

Loki motioned for Heimdall to take a seat at the couch and he did. Loki sat down on one of the armchairs. Heimdall told him what happened, how the queen had fought the dark elves and was martyred defending Thor’s beloved.

“But how did you know of my presence? I cast a concealing spell.”

“A blessing from the queen. After you had fallen into the void she had a vision. She did not tell me the details of it, but she spoke of you. The out of time version of you, that is. So she blessed me to be able to sense your arrival when the time came. It seemed that she knew she wouldn’t be here herself.”

“Mother never does... did... something without a reason.” Loki sighed.

“Indeed. She asked me to warn you against tampering with the timeline.” Heimdall looked serious. The soft smile he had earlier had disappeared.

Loki cocked his head. There must be something significant to be happening either soon or in the future that involved him, which would explain why his mother had given such a warning. Not to mention, there were two Lokis in one timeline now. That would be enough reason to rip apart the fabric of time and space. One of them had to go and while Loki didn’t have anything to live for at the moment, he wasn’t about to readily sacrifice himself. Despite everything, he still liked to live.

“What does tampering with the timeline entail, exactly?” He finally asked. He knew the basics, but he figured there might be something specific he needed to watch out for.

“The usual.” Heimdall shrugged. Loki did not believe his eyes. Heimdall actually shrugged! The man was a stoic pillar who made you doubt whether he was breathing at times, shrugged like a normal being! What had happened in Asgard during his time away? Oh right, this was another Asgard, not the one he knew. “Do not meddle in major events, even if there are casualties that you could otherwise help prevent. Do not try to change things according to the futures you have seen. Let everything run its course. And most importantly...”

“Do not meet yourself. I know.” Loki smirked. “I thought mother would have had something specific in mind, other than the standard time travel warnings.”

“You know both of you cannot exist in the same timeline.” Heimdall leaned forward, elbows over his knees. “Just your presence is already causing chaos, Loki. Be careful.”

“Now where’s the fun in that?” Loki grinned with mischief. He was always careful, but it didn’t mean he wouldn’t allow himself some fun. So what if chaos was brewing? His other self can deal with it. He was done with everything.

Heimdall looked up for a second, his senses causing him to be alert and then looked back to Loki. “I must leave at once. You’re sending the Einherjar to arrest me for treason.”

Loki raised an eyebrow. “Am I ruling with an iron fist?”

“Only when it comes to those you know are loyal to Odin and Thor. For the most part, you’re doing an okay job.” Heimdall smirked.

“An okay job.” Loki snorted. “Someone needs to lecture me about ruling a kingdom. An okay job equals negligence.”

“I’ll try not to tell you that to your face. Well, his face.” Heimdall gave him a knowing look.

“Better not.” Loki chuckled.

“I do not know if I will see you again, Loki. But do take care. I cannot promise I would be able to answer your call should you need me, but I will try.”

“Thank you, Heimdall. You take care as well, my friend.”

After Heimdall had left, Loki was left with a cold feeling in his heart. His other self was after Heimdall for treason. He figured it was simply because Heimdall was loyal to Odin and knew the current Odin was an imposter. So the other Loki wanted to eliminate him. Loki shook his head and chuckled as he headed out of the room to finally go get himself that cup of coffee and some breakfast. Heimdall will be fine, he concluded.

Loki didn’t bother with a glamour this time. Though Heimdall had warned him about tampering with the timeline, he didn’t say anything about showing himself to the Midgardians. It had been a while since the Chitauri incident, surely they have forgotten about it by now. It was good to know his protection spell was not lacking, but it was his mother’s blessing that enabled Heimdall to detect him. Unless he came face-to-face with one or all of the Avengers, they would not be able to detect his presence. Even their surveillance would be lacking against his magic.

He hadn’t asked Heimdall about Thor or Odin. Though he was curious where they were, he wasn’t curious enough to bother about them. He didn’t care for them. Quite frankly, Loki hated Odin and was angry at Thor. If he would never hear from or of them in the future, he wouldn’t be bothered at all.

When he reached the restaurant, he found out he was a bit late for breakfast and it was already closed. But the waiting staff did offer him a cup of coffee, which Loki accepted graciously and decided to have it in the lounge. If Heimdall decided to visit him again around the same time as today, he’ll have to drag him along to breakfast so he wouldn’t miss it again.

After he was done with his coffee and reading the day’s newspaper, Loki went to the reception. He was pleased to note that the receptionist did not question the fact that the person who had booked the room last night looked different than the person prolonging his stay. He booked his room for a whole week. That should give him enough time to decide whether he was going to stay in New York or move elsewhere. For the time being, he decided to enjoy the freedom of having nothing to do other than combat his boredom.

So he decided to go for a walk at the Central park.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd like to think Heimdall and Loki are/were buddies. Not besties or anything, but something close to that. 
> 
> Also, thanks Traxus_IV for the tip about the year where Loki lands in and the law firm which I didn't know it existed in canon!
> 
> Speaking of the law firm, I have _no clue_ how things work for traineeships in the US, so I used the Dutch equivalent of it here for Darcy. It's always a 2 year program for freshly graduated people and at the end of it, those who get on the good side of the employer (aka they're a good candidate in terms of work ethics, etc) they get hired on the spot. Let's just say the firm did not have a job vacancy and only had the traineeship around the time Darcy had graduated. Given the type of clients they work with, she just had to get her foot in.
> 
> You can also find me on Tumblr: @kaogasm come say hi!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaand we're back! Thanks for the awesome feedback on the previous chapter and I'm sorry it took me a while to get this one ready.

As she walked, Darcy’s hair, which wasn’t confined to the winter cap she had on, fluttered in the air. Her clothes clung to her body as she wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. Why on Earth did she ever think it was smart to get out to get coffee in the cold weather, she had no idea. But she was too stubborn and she craved that specific coffee from that specific vendor. And no cold weather was going to stop her, damn it!

Loki was walking the path through the park. Midgardians were interesting when he paused to give them a moment of his time. Most people were out for a jog it seemed, though he couldn’t figure out what was interesting about getting up in the morning, just to go for a run. If they were craving physical training to remain in shape, jogging wasn’t going to do much more than elevate their heartrate. There were far more interesting activities one can do to elevate their heartrate. Jogging was not one of them. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his coat as he continued walking, his mind occupied by the fact that Heimdall had just visited him. Though the gatekeeper had assured him no one knows of his presence on Midgard, Loki couldn’t help but try to think of ways to fortify his protective spell. He was not in the mood for unpleasant Asgardian surprises, especially from his other self or worse, his brother.

Darcy’s steps were quick. She had a destination to reach and it was just so _fucking cold_! She pulled she collar of her jacket further up her neck and hid her mouth and nose between the folds of the scarf she had on. She wasn’t paying attention to her step until her shoulder bumped into someone. “Sor...” the word got caught in her throat when she saw who it was.

Loki didn’t pay much attention to whoever it was that bumped into him. Without stopping, he glanced sideways and turned his face back ahead, when all of a sudden someone grabbed the sleeve of his coat.

Someone had _dared_ to touch him! A mortal! Loki’s nostrils flared as he clenched his jaws and turned around sharply, glaring daggers at the mortal who dared grab his sleeve uninvited. His eyes fell down on a young woman, covered head to toe in warm winter clothes, mouth agape and staring at him. She was still holding the fabric of his sleeve with one hand and with the other she was pointing at him.

Darcy opened and closed her mouth, completely shocked to see his face in New York. Out of all places! She kept pointing at him, her hand shaking a bit, but no words would come out.

Loki kept his face void of expressions. He glanced at the hand still holding his sleeve and slowly pried it off, letting it drop to the woman’s side. She continued pointing at him.

“Don’t they teach you it is rude to point at people?” He decided to break the silence, a little smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he looked down at her, keeping his chin high. Something about the woman before him was intriguing, like he had seen her before, but he couldn’t remember where.

“You... you’re... you’re not supposed to be here!” Darcy felt like her knees were about to give out as her heart started racing. Whether it was fear or just a spike in adrenaline, she didn’t care enough to figure it out. Thor’s criminal brother was standing right in front of her! Shit. Thor’s _criminal_ brother was standing in front of her! Not even two feet away!

She quickly took a step back and tucked her hand into her bag, tightly wrapping her fingers around her taser gun.

“And why, pray tell, am I not supposed to be here?” Loki crossed his arms over his chest and raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re supposed to be dead!” Darcy spat, louder than intended. She nervously chuckled at a passer-by who glared at her, then her facial expression turned back to serious as she glared at Loki. “Why aren’t you dead?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Loki smirked. This one was interesting. Big brown eyes, eyebrows shaped to perfection, small nose and a bosom hidden under that winter jacket that would most probably bring an army to its knees if she chose to. She was beautiful for a mortal. If he could only remember where he’d seen her before!

Darcy narrowed her eyes at him. She didn’t like the way he was staring at her and was tempted to get her taser gun out. But instead, she grabbed her phone and took it out of her bag. “I’m calling SHIELD.” 

Before she could even unlock the screen, her phone disappeared from her hand. She gasped and looked around, only to find it in Loki’s hand.

“Looking for this?” He gave her an evil grin as he crushed the phone and dropped it to the ground.

“What... NO!” Darcy dropped on her knees and grabbed her now damaged device. “You _monster_! My whole life was in here!” She waved the remains of what used to resemble a smartphone at his face.

Loki clenched his jaws at being called a monster. He grabbed her wrist and brought his face down to her eye level. “If your whole life was on a device, were you even living?” He retorted, his voice low and menacing. He let go of her hand the moment she tried pulling it away from his grasp. With one last side glance, Loki left her where she was standing and walked away.

Darcy stood frozen on the spot, a broken phone in her hand and she stared at the retreating back of the space viking who wasn’t even supposed to be alive.

“I’m fucked. We’re all fucked.” She looked at the sky as a shiver ran through her body. “Hey, golden viking dude, not sure if you remember me. Darcy here. Uhmm... we haven’t met, but I helped Thor and Jane a while ago? Well, Loki’s back, in case you need to know. Sooo... maybe you guys can come and get him?”

She waited a few seconds and nothing happened. Typical. When Thor had left he never bothered to come back whenever Jane called for him. Maybe they didn’t hear human calls. Although Jane did mention the golden dude to have eyes and ears everywhere. But if so, why was Loki roaming free?

She looked at the remains of the crushed phone in her hand. Now she lost everything she had on there. Photos, music, some other files. At least she didn’t have anything work related on it. Her contacts were saved to her email address, so those she can easily recover. What hurt the most were the photos that she had on there with no cloud backup because she refused to put her private photos somewhere that can be easily hacked. She really should have made a physical backup on her photos. Either a flash drive or something. Stupid, stupid, stupid!

Suddenly Darcy lost the desire to get the coffee she had been craving. She turned around and dragged herself back to her car. She was quite bummed about the photos. She really shouldn’t have taken her phone out. She didn’t even have a number to contact SHIELD! Who would she have called, then? Jane? Erik? They’d just go into panic mode and scold her for not being careful. The police? They stand no chance in front of an alien that does magic.

Loki watched her from a hidden spot in the distance. She seemed quite bummed about her phone, which made her go back from the direction she had come from. He tucked his hand into the inner pocket of his coat and pulled out a smartphone that did not belong to him.

When he summoned the woman’s device, what she did not notice was the fact that as soon as Loki was holding her phone, he magically replaced it with another one of the same model and hers was safely tucked into the inner pocket of his coat.

Now he had a way to find out who she was. With a smile, he tucked the phone back into his pocket and went on with his little walk through the park.

The day may have had started a bit shaky with Heimdall’s unexpected arrival, but it had certainly taken a _very_ interesting turn just a few moments ago. Loki found himself thinking about the woman who got angry with him quite often that day.

-*-*-*-*-*-

Darcy threw her bag onto the couch when she got back home. Her Sunday was ruined and now she would have to order a new phone, with a new number. That was _not_ how she wanted to spend her Sunday! She paced the room back and forth, trying to calm her nerves. She was angry, but she wasn’t sure at whom. Herself for being an idiot? Or Loki for being a total douchebag?

She kicked her shoes off and dropped on the couch, grabbing a pillow and pressing it to her face as she screamed into it with frustration. Now she needed to send emails to anyone and everyone she was in contact with, to let them know that she would be temporarily unavailable. 

“Fucking asshole!” She threw the pillow aside and took her hat and scarf off, tossing them aside. She hadn’t even had her morning coffee yet and her day had already spiralled South pretty fast. She grabbed the pillow once more and started punching it, imagining it was Loki’s face. “Fucking-good-for-nothing-bastard!” She yelled the words with each punch.

Loki, on the other hand, had found himself a cosy coffee shop. He grabbed himself a cup of coffee and took a seat in a secluded corner. He looked and felt quite smug as he took the mobile device out of his pocket and set it in front of him. He stared at it for a while, pondering what to do next. He could check the information it contained about the owner. But that would be invasion of her privacy. He could just stash it in a pocket dimension. He could actually break it and throw it away. Or... he could return it to its rightful owner.

But in order to do that, he had to know who she was. In order to know who she was, he had to go through her phone.

See, he was going through her phone _not_ because he was curious to know who that beautiful woman was. Not at all! He had noble intentions! Honest to... well, himself! He really wanted to give her the phone back. After all, he’s a prankster and this was but a prank! Surely mortals pranked each other as well?

As he picked the phone up, he wondered why was he being rendered an idiot. Since when did he have a moral compass? Since when did he ever care whether he was invading someone’s privacy? Since when was he trying to find a legitimate excuse for his mischief?

“Damned mortal.” He mumbled to himself as he pressed the home button on the phone. Praise the Norns for having spent some time on this realm to know how most of their electronic devices worked.

This one seemed to require a passcode to unlock. Great. He rolled his eyes and set the phone back on the table and took a sip of his coffee. He needed to crack the code. From past experience he knew his seiðr wasn’t going to be helpful here and he could only rely on his intelligence. So, in order to find the correct number combination, he needed time.

Oh wait, he had plenty of that.

As he sipped his coffee, he was about to start trying out number combinations when he realized some devices could get blocked after a certain amount of tries. He wrinkled his nose in displeasure at the thought. Three tries, usually, right? He would have to select three random combinations and hope for the best.

With a sigh, he propped his elbow over the table and leaned his head against his fist, staring at the device in complete lethargy.

“Is the coffee not to your liking, Sir?” The waitress approached him all of a sudden and he only moved his eyes to look at her.

“The coffee is alright.” He replied, turning his gaze back to the phone.

“Would you like something to go with it?” She gave him a cheerful smile that made him feel wanting to throw up. He was not in a cheerful mood.

“Thank you, but no.” He sighed, but then he sat up straight and looked at her. “Actually, I’m trying to unlock my phone here and I cannot for the life of me remember my code.” He gave her the most embarrassed smile he can muster. “My friend and I made a bet that I will forget the new code within days. I cannot let her win.”

“Oh, umm... I don’t think I’m the right person for this.” She said, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “But, I can see if our barista can help. He’s pretty good with electronics.”

“I would be forever grateful.” Loki gave her a charming smile. The waitress smiled merrily and he could see her cheeks turn a light shade of pink as she excused herself and went to talk to the barista.

A moment later the waitress returned, the sweet smile still on her face. “So, umm... he said he can try and crack the code. He’s going on a break in half an hour if you can wait that long?”

Loki mirrored the smile. “Absolutely.”

“Okay, I’ll let him know. So, uh... would you like another coffee? Or maybe something to eat?”

“Another coffee would be fine, thank you.”

As the waitress went to get him the coffee, Loki picked up the phone and turned it around in his hand. “It appears I will get to know who you are after all, little mortal.” He mumbled to himself, a mischievous grin spreading over his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love it when you guys leave comments! *bribes you with fresh baked cookies*


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